1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting and stripping an insulated electric wire. More specifically, the present invention relates to such an apparatus for cutting an insulated electric wire into lengths and processing the end of the resulting wire lengths.
2. Description of the Prior Art;
Heretofore, an insulated wire cutting and stripping machine (generally referred to as a wire stripper) has been known as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,497,112 and 2,571,078, comprising a pair of core wire cutting blades, two opposed pairs of insulator cutting and stripping blades on both sides of said first-mentioned pair, clamp means adapted to be reciprocated centrally of the group of said three pairs of cutter blades in a direction parallel to said group, wherein withdrawal of a wire from a wire supply reel is effected by said clamp means and stripping of the insulator from both ends is effected by the alternate pulling actions in the forward and rearward directions in the cut condition. The wire length thus having the insulator stripped from both ends thereof is then subjected to soldering operation or other terminal-attaching operation in the next step depending upon the object for which it is used.
In recent years, there has been an increasing tendency toward automation for saving labor or for mass production. One would attempt to incorporate or operatively connect the next-step working machine, e.g., a terminal-crimping machine to the wire stripper of the type described above. However, the above-mentioned clamp means is designed to receive a driving motion through a number of cam mechanisms, links and the like and when a certain amount of wear is produced in the machine, there will be increased clearances, causing variations in the clamp stop position in the subsequent insulator stripping step. Consequently, the distance between the wire length gripper being transferred to the terminal-crimping means and the front end of the cut wire length will also vary, and even if wire lengths with their front end positions thus varying are transferred to the terminal-crimping means, it would be impossible to achieve a satisfactory terminal-crimping operation. Thus, this problem remains to be solved.
In order to eliminate said disadvantage, an invention has been made as disclosed in Japanese Patent Opening No. 975/72. In said invention, when wire length clamps provided on a transfer conveyor are transferred to terminal-crimping means, they are guided by a grooved cam, so that the distance from said wire length clamps to the terminal-crimping means is constant, but it is not so designed that the distance from the wire length clamps to the front ends of the wire lengths, which is the utmost importance, is constant. As a result, the last-mentioned distance does vary and said disadvantage cannot be completely eliminated. That is, the construction of the wire length clamp is such that it is capable of freely moving on two pins spanning two chains. In a region close to the terminal-crimping means, the position control is effected by the two cams as described above, but since the distance between the two camming surfaces, when the wire is clamped in the wire stripper section, is increased to such an extent as to allow movement of the wire length clamp, it is impossible to effect position control, with the result that there is the danger of the clamp being deviated due to vibration or other cause immediately before clamping takes place.